The AFL has found Melbourne not guilty of tanking in 2009, but that the football manager Chris Connolly and coach Dean Bailey at the time acted in a manner prejudicial to the integrity of the game.

The AFL on Tuesday announced Connolly would be suspended until February next year and Bailey, now an assistant coach at Adelaide, would be suspended for the first 16 games of 2013.

Former Melbourne coach Dean Bailey has been suspended from coaching for the first 16 rounds of the 2013 AFL season. He is allowed to maintain another role with his current club, Adelaide. Photo: Joe Armao

The Crows announced Bailey would keep his job at the club and be welcomed back into the fold, while the Demons confirmed Connolly would also return after his 12-month suspension. Both will be on full pay.

Advertisement

Melbourne was fined $500,000 because it was responsible for the actions of the pair, even though the league found the club did not deliberately lose matches.

AFL deputy CEO Gillon McLachlan denied Connolly and Bailey had been made scapegoats, but admitted some responsibility for the saga by having the priority pick rule in place.

The AFL's acting general manager of football operations Gillon McLachlan. Photo: Sebastian Costanzo

Bailey was punished for decisions related to resting players and playing them out of position, but the AFL accepted he coached to the best of his ability on game day.

Connolly was found to have put pressure on Bailey to make those decisions during the infamous meeting revealed in the Age last year dubbed ‘the vault’.

McLachlan, said Connolly and Bailey had admitted to their involvement in Melbourne’s 2009 strategy and had all accepted the punishments.

Melbourne president Don McLardy said the Demons accepted the AFL’s decision and the league’s ‘‘right to protect the game’’.

However he admitted the investigation could have been handled better.

‘‘I have my issues with the whole process, but that is only my opinion,’’ McLardy said. ‘‘We have been under duress for seven months, and we’re happy it’s now been resolved.’’

McLardy admitted he believed the AFL’s decision on Tuesday had not cleared up what constitutes tanking in the AFL.

‘‘It is a cloudy area, and I don’t think anyone has a clear idea what tanking is.’’

McLardy said the internal damage from the controversial period in 2009 under investigation had been ‘‘significant’’, but believed the club had emerged with ‘‘strength and courage’’.

The president said he would contact the club’s sponsors in the next 24 hours to reassure them, in light of the massive $500,000 fine - the third biggest in AFL history – and it would be business as usual.

McLachlan said Connolly made a ‘‘terrible and stupid’’ decision to make comments to Melbourne club staff during the 2009 season. It is understood the comments he referred to were Connolly addressing the football department staff, advising them of the need to look after the club’s future.

‘‘There is no allegation that is able to be sustained that Dean Bailey didn’t coach on his merits or any players didn’t play to their utmost abilities,’’ McLachlan said.

‘‘Connolly has accepted he went into a football department meeting and he made a terrible and stupid decision in the context of an AFL rule that has now changed (priority draft picks) and in the context of a pressure and expectation of success.

‘‘He made a comment regarding the performance of the team, a desire to secure a priority pick, and I know he now regrets that comment.’’

Melbourne won only four games in 2009 and secured the priority picks to snare Tom Scully and Jack Trengove.It is understood Connolly told colleagues of the need to lose games after the Demons beat Port Adelaide late in the season.

Mclachlan said the AFL’s integrity unit compiled 58 interviews with Melbourne staff, coaches and past and current players in preparing 800 pages of evidence that led to the charges against Connolly and Bailey.He said all of Melbourne’s 2009 season was looked at, but matches in the last third of the season were scrutinised more closely.

With Matt Murnane

152 comments so far

Fudge,fudge,fudge. Just slip and slide and spin. Integrity? What's that?

Commenter

dumb guy

Date and time

February 19, 2013, 3:22PM

What did you expect, a straight answer from Dimetriou? The guy puts Gillard and Abbott to shame with his weasel words and spin. Now just watch as the drug investigation gets bogged down in so much bureaucracy and "process" while players get selective amnesia and they find a way to string the bow that "technically" no rules were broken - therefore there's no drug problem. Look I'd love to forget about all this and just watch footy this weekend - but Dimetriou sold it to Foxtel...

Commenter

Time to go Andrew

Date and time

February 19, 2013, 4:01PM

I think the AFL are going to struggle in the future in pretending to operate with integrity . Given this gross mis management one would have to be cynical as to the findings and any future investigation. Drugs...... What drugs!

Commenter

Blogsy

Date and time

February 19, 2013, 4:32PM

The AFL could not lie straight in bed

Commenter

MrTB

Location

Melb

Date and time

February 19, 2013, 4:35PM

No tanking but we will suspend Bailey and Connolly, this is so like Demetriou this is just his usual weasel way, he said at the beginning there was no tanking this is just so he is able to say he was right, AS ALWAYS!!!I think he should look at himself as to who is bringing the game into disrepute.

Commenter

JOHN

Date and time

February 19, 2013, 4:44PM

Time to go Andrew ( that has a certain ring to it), By the way where is Andrew and Eddy?

The footy lives in its own universe. The AFL can do anything it likes. I am beginning to understand why there is so little push to export this famous and popular Melbourne product - the challenge of 'other' opinions and the need for transparency would never sit well in this comp. Not to worry it will all go away in a few days and we will be back watching the best comp in the world.

Commenter

Andy

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

February 19, 2013, 6:09PM

In terms of the integrity of the game, Melbourne's efforts not to win games is just match fixing by another name and more serious than salary cap breaches and draft tampering. Feel sympathy for Bailey and the players who had to carry it out, but none for Connolly, or the innocent Schawb and Melbourne. Unlike Geelong who did not lose to have to rely on wooden spoon draft picks to build a team with a winning culture, the Dees destroyed their culture and lost players, coaches and self respect. If they were even considering two year sanctions against the Bombers, the Dees can consider to have got off lightly. As for reduction in their penalty for (not??) being responsible for the actions of Connolly and Bailey, they have to be joking.... Write it off against the savings they made for salaries Scully and others would have cost them, if they had stayed!

Commenter

george

Date and time

February 19, 2013, 6:30PM

Was there any evidence of unusual betting on any of Melbourne's games? Or on any other club that deliberately lost games. If this was a scandal overseas - it would be the first question asked, would it not?

Commenter

Andy

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

February 19, 2013, 7:56PM

Isn't it a laugh that a club who hadn't won a flag since 1964 thought the way to a flag was to lose as many games as possible? And that by doing that, they lost more good players than they gained?

Not in my time has a flag been won via a wooden spoon. My team has only ever played with a winning culture and that's why we've won so many flags in my time.

Whatever you think of the punishments given to Melbourne, at least you can be confident that no club with any brains will ever do what they did, now that they've seen how little good it does.